Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

East Africa Gets High-Speed Internet Access Via Undersea Cable

Posted by timothy on from the not-a-panacea-but-good-still dept.

Abel Mebratu writes with this excerpt from the BBC: "The first undersea cable to bring high-speed internet access to East Africa has gone live. The fiber-optic cable, operated by African-owned firm Seacom, connects South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Mozambique to Europe and Asia. The firm says the cable will help to boost the prospects of the region's industry and commerce. The cable — which is 17,000km long — took two years to lay and cost more than $650m."

7 of 198 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Snip Snip Snip by adnonsense · · Score: 5, Funny

    is this cable gonna be a magnet for undersea pirates!?

    If it's coiled the right way, I'm sure it will be.

  2. Re:Snip Snip Snip by CSMatt · · Score: 4, Funny

    Undersea pirates?

    Are you telling me they have developed gills now?

  3. $650M for a 17000km cable... by this+great+guy · · Score: 5, Funny

    It cost $11.65/foot - probably a Monster Cable.

    1. Re:$650M for a 17000km cable... by laejoh · · Score: 5, Funny

      African or european data?

  4. Re:Pirated broadband by rm999 · · Score: 5, Funny

    They mean that bit torrent users in Somalia were using up so much bandwidth that the cable couldn't be used

  5. Re:Mod Parent Up. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's Anonymous Cowardon to you, MISTER!

  6. Re:Very good news! by pinkushun · · Score: 5, Funny

    Obviously not, I'm posting this from South Africa - Would've posted sooner but my lion got stuck behind a giraffe-pileup on the freeway.